For the first time, Indonesians in Singapore will be able to enjoy the convenience of using their mobile phones to send money directly to the bank accounts of family and friends in their homeland, thanks to SingTel’s mRemit service.

From 27 July, funds can be remitted to more than 80 Indonesian banks, including Bank Danamon, Bank Negara Indonesia and Bank Mandiri. Recipients will have access to transferred funds within three minutes of a successful transaction.

As a launch promotion, fees for mobile remittance transactions to Indonesia will be waived until 31 August 2014.

Mr Johan Buse, SingTel’s Vice President of Consumer Marketing, said: “We are delighted to extend the convenience and flexibility of mRemit to the 180,000 (1) Indonesians who currently call Singapore home.”

“With mRemit, customers need not queue for hours at traditional over-the-counter remittance outlets, as they have the flexibilty to initiate transfers at any time through their mobile phones. This is particularly useful for workers who have very few days off or work irregular hours,” he said.

Since its launch in 2012, mRemit has offered mobile remittances to the Philippines in collaboration with GCASH, the mobile commerce service of SingTel’s associate company, Globe Telecom. The service has been well received, attracting more than 25,000 users to date. From 27 July, customers from the Philippines will also have the option of sending funds directly to accounts in more than 50 banks in their home country, including BDO, RCBC and Metrobank.

mRemit is available to subscribers of all mobile networks, and is compatible with both smartphones and feature phones. Customers use the funds in their mCash accounts for all remittances. They initiate the transactions using SingTel’s mWallet smartphone app (available for download from the Apple App Store or Google Play), or by sending the word ‘remit’ via SMS to the number 77766. The sending and receiving parties will be notified by SMS once transfers have been successfully completed.

Customers enjoy very competitive exchange rates and low remittance fees from as little as $2.40. Topping up mCash accounts is easy and convenient via more than 1,000 locations island-wide, including AXS stations, or over-the-counter at 7-Eleven, Cheers, Fairprice Xpress and SingTel retail stores.

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